$7m trial to target bowel cancer

By Louise Dodson, Sophie DouezCanberraAugust 24 2002

A new national screening program to control bowel cancer, which kills 90 Australians a week, will be tested next year.

After lung cancer, bowel cancer is the second biggest cancer killer of men and women in Australia. But Health Minister Kay Patterson said the death rate could be lowered by screening for early detection and treatment.

"We know that screening works - international trials have shown a reduction in deaths of up to 33 per cent," she said yesterday.

For this reason the Howard Government will begin a $7.2 million two-year trial of a national screening program for people aged 55-74. If the trial is extended to all Australians in this age group, it would be a world first.

Using a self-administered test called the Fecal Occult Blood test, people will be able to take samples from their bowel movements and send them to an accredited pathology laboratory for assessment. At present, doctors use invasive clinical procedures. ");document.write("

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A new national register to track the incidence of bowel cancer will also be established.

The trial will target 54,000 Australians in three representative population centres - north-east Melbourne, Adelaide and the Queensland town of Mackay.

A national program would test 4.3 million Australians.

National hotlines for information on the program will be set up by November this year.

Professor David Hill, director of the Cancer Council of Victoria welcomed the national program. "This is something that has great promise for reducing the impact of bowel cancer in Australia," he said.

Professor Hill said the stigma attached to previous tests for bowel cancer had often prevented people from getting tested. But the new test was "ingenious" because people could use it at home.

"You don't have to have anything taken from you, you don't have to be poked and prodded, and you can do it at home so that's a big plus," he said.

Under the trial, Health Insurance Commission records will be used to identify people aged 55 to 74 in the target areas. They will each be sent a package including a testing kit, consent form and educational material on bowel cancer.

Recipients will receive a reminder letter if no sample is received after six weeks.

If results are negative, the person will be given more information and re-tested within two years. If positive, the person will be advised to see a doctor for a colonoscopy.